Programme

Welcome to the Union is part of the Romanian Connections programme, the first major exercise in promoting Romania in North West England. Romanian Connections is centred on two theatre shows of the ‘Radu Stanca’ National Theatre of Sibiu. In order to create the basis of a better understanding of the richness of the Romanian cultural phenomena, The Ratiu Foundation / Romanian Cultural Centre in London, in partnership with ProFusion International Creative Consultancy, have initiated a series of connected events, of which this debate on contemporary Romania is the first.

Dr Mike Phillips OBE, Dr Alex Drace-Francis (University of Liverpool), Dr Wendy Webster (University of Central Lancashire), and Dr Ruxandra Trandafoiu (Edge Hill University) tackle the issues of contemporary Romania in the European context in front of a Liverpudlian audience. Join us for a fascinating and important debate.

“The status of Capital of Culture has become a new icon of European culture, a display window for European identity. On the other hand, current rhetoric about culture and the arts ignores a myriad of issues and problems, notably the cultural role and identity of accession states like Romania.

The problem is that the process by which the accession states have entered membership has been discussed in terms largely dominated by politics and economics. In the last two years the issue of migration has moved to centre stage, but, once again, its importance has been framed in economic terms. In the meantime the cultures on both sides of the continent continue to be misunderstood and misrepresented, as if the closer the two parties approach, the more obscure and difficult their true natures become. Even more interesting the invention of mythologies about the nation become more and more frenzied as each one feels the impact of the other.

The case of Romania and the EU is the platform for this discussion, which sidesteps the fog of acquisition and competition, and takes the understanding and exploration of cultural faultlines as its starting point. How do we understand the history of cultural interaction and what does it mean? In cultural terms, which is more important - an encounter with a migrant worker, or the high profile artist tour? What do we believe (or more important, what do we feel) about each other? How do these attitudes affect, migrants and migration, political and social responses and the culture of Europe as a whole?” - Mike Phillips

DR MIKE PHILLIPS OBE, FRSL, FRSA

Author Mike Phillips was born in Georgetown, Guyana. He came to Britain as a child and grew up in London. He was educated at the University of London (English), the University of Essex (politics), and at Goldsmiths College London (education).

He worked for the BBC as a journalist and broadcaster between 1972 and 1983 on radio and television programmes including The Late Show and Omnibus, before becoming a lecturer in media studies at the University of Westminster. He has written full-time since 1992. He is best known for his crime fiction, including four novels featuring black journalist Sam Dean: Blood Rights (1989), which was adapted for BBC television, The Late Candidate (1990), winner of the Crime Writers’ Association Silver Dagger Award, Point of Darkness (1994) and An Image to Die For (1995). The Dancing Face (1998) is a thriller centred on a priceless Benin mask. His novel A Shadow of Myself (2000) is a thriller about a black documentary filmmaker working in Prague and a man who claims to be his brother.

Mike Phillips co-wrote Windrush: The Irresistible Rise of Multi-Racial Britain (1998) to accompany a BBC television series telling the story of the Caribbean migrant workers who settled in post-war Britain. His book London Crossings: A Biography of Black Britain (2001) is a series of interlinked essays and stories, a portrait of the city seen from locations as diverse as New York and Nairobi, London and Lodz, Washington and Warsaw.

Mike writes for the Guardian, is a former trustee of the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Heritage Lottery Fund, and now serves as an expert panellist. Mike is a former curator at Tate, and is now working as an independent curator in the international arena. In 2007 he was awarded the OBE for his services to broadcasting.

DR ALEX DRACE-FRANCIS

Alex Drace-Francis is Lecturer in Modern European History at the University of Liverpool. He is the author of a book, The Making of Modern Romanian Culture (2006), and with Wendy Bracewell has recently edited a bibliography and a volume of studies on East European travel experiences in Europe from the sixteenth century to the present. His articles, chapters and reviews on Romanian and Balkan history, literature and identity have appeared in a wide variety of periodicals and reference works.

DR WENDY WEBSTER

Wendy Webster is Professor of Contemporary British history and works particularly on questions of gender, ‘race’, ethnicity, imperialism and national identity. She teaches a number of modules in these areas and welcomes enquiries from research students interested in exploring any of these questions, or the history of post-war British film.

Her major recent project, funded by research leave from the AHRB, was on the impact of loss of empire on British and English culture and identity. Published as Englishness and Empire 1939-1965 (Oxford University Press, 2005), it won the prize for the best work in the field of media and history from the International Association for Media and History in 2006. The judges commended Englishness and Empire as ‘an engaging history of the relationship between the British people and their Empire during the years of transformation, 1939-65, as seen through the prism of the media … It is an excellent example of the value of media evidence for historians and will remain a standard text for years to come’. Wendy was presented with the prize at the IAMHIST conference in Amsterdam in July 2007, where she gave a plenary address.

Wendy is currently a Leverhulme Research Fellow, working on a project on ‘Englishness and Europe, 1940-1973’ which explores the significance of Europe to English identity in the period from Dunkirk to Britain’s entry into the EEC. She is also reviews editor for Women’s History Review, and a member of its editorial board.

DR RUXANDRA TRANDAFOIU

Dr Ruxandra Trandafoiu teaches media and communication at Edge Hill University. A former journalist in Romania, she left the country in 1997 to pursue several postgraduate research projects at Central European University, the University of Edinburgh and Westminster University, culminating with a PhD charting the link between the national press and nationalist ideologies. Her main research interests are diasporic communication, online social networks, globalisation culture and identity, the post-communist transition and the European Union. She is currently co-writing a book on globalization culture and media and also working on a British Academy funded project researching the communicative and political potential of online diasporic networks in Europe and North America. Recent publications and conference papers have also focused on the issue of European identity and Euroscepticism.

Described as masters of great atmosphere, Paprika Balkanicus play a fiery blend of Balkan, Eastern European and Gypsy music. From UK and Europe to Australia and Japan - their electrifying show of fantastic musicianship and irresistible tunes makes every one sing, dance and call for more! Paprika Balkanicus are: Vlad Jocic (guitar), Jozef Secnik (bass), Bogdan Vacarescu (violin), and accordionists extraordinaire Milos Milivojevic and Zivorad Nikolic.

"Paprika Balkanicus had set the night afire!" - The Scotsman

"A wild ride - fast, furious and exhilarating!" - The Adelaide Advertiser, Australia

"Amazing performance - they hit the audience like a Balkan storm!"- Mio Matsuda / JVC Japan

Stage adaptation by Radu Nica and Mihaela Michailov, after an idea of Théatre de Compagnol
Scenography by Helmut Stürmer
Costumes by Maria Miu
Choreography by Carmen Cotofana
Music coordination / Composer: Vasile Sirli

Cast: Diana Fufezan, Gabriela Neagu, Ofelia Popii, Florentina Tilea, Codruta Vasiu, Florin Cosulet, Adrian Matioc, Adrian Neacsu, Horia Nicoara, Catalin Patru, Viorel Rata, Pali Vecsei.

The Ball is a tragicomic tour de force relating the history of 20th Century Romania in a couple of hours. It is a show which sums up a new exploration by younger generations in the theatre, of the country’s recent history; in a fragmentary postmodernist style, a seamless mix of dance and music, humour and tragedy.

“Romanian theatre must approach, anew, the analysis of the NOW. It must escape excessive aestheticism and reinvent a new realism.
What does this imply? Formally - filmic, fast, virtuous play, adapted to contemporary perception, educated by television and cinematography.” - Radu Nica

Radu Nica studied theatre direction in Cluj (Romania) and Munich. Before directing his own shows, Radu worked as an assistant director for Andrei Serban and Silviu Purcarete, two of the greatest Romanian theatre directors. At the moment, Radu creates shows for the ‘Radu Stanca’ National Theatre of Sibiu, and also works with theatres in Bucharest, Cluj and Timisoara.

Scenography by Silviu Purcarete

Cast:
Vladimir: Constantin Chiriac
Estragon: Marian Ralea
Pozzo: Cristian Stanca
Lucky: Pali Vecsei
The Boy: Dan Mitrea

Live music performed by Sena Ducariu, Lacrima Stanescu, Aurel Tancu

As the play opens, we find Vladimir and Estragon, two vagabonds, in what one might call a “non-place” – a country road with a tree, towards the end of the day. They are both waiting for God(ot) who promised a change in their lives. But are they in the right spot? Are they at the right time? What if they missed Godot – that is, if he does exist indeed.

Director Silviu Purcarete has worked in Romanian and European theatre for more than twenty years, most notably for the National Theatre of Craiova, Bulandra Theatre in Bucharest, and ‘Radu Stanca’ National Theatre of Sibiu.

His productions have won many awards and great critical acclaim both in Romania and abroad. In 1996 Purcarete became Director of the Centre Dramatique National de Limoges for whom his productions have included ‘Oresteia’, ‘Three Sisters’ and ‘Don Juan’. Opera credits include ‘La Boheme’ (Essen), ‘Parsifal’ (Scottish Opera coproduction with WNO), Donizetti’s ‘Roberto Devereux’ (Wiener Staatsoper) and Rameau’s ‘Castor et Pollux’ (Opera Bonn).

Silviu Purcarete’s work has been seen extensively in the UK and includes ‘The Decameron’, ‘Phaedra’ and Aeschylus’ ‘Danaides’ (Glasgow), ‘Oresteia’ (Lyric Hammersmith), ‘Ubu Rex’ (Edinburgh International Festival) and ‘The Tempest’ (Nottingham Playhouse). In 2005 Purcarete directed ‘Scapino or The Trickster’ at Chichester Festival Theatre. In 2006, ‘The Twelfth Night’, a National Theatre of Craiova production, was presented during the Bath Shakespeare Festival, and in 2007, Purcarete directed Eugene Ionesco’s ‘Macbett’ for the Royal Shakespeare Company.

This year, Silviu Purcarete signed the stage direction for Glyndebourne Opera’s production of ‘Love and Other Demons’, composed by Peter Eotvos.

Liverpool Biennial artists Adam Cvijanovic and Adrian Ghenie (Romania) work in the medium of paint. While both artists' images arise from internal sources and possess the gravitas of historical paintings, Cvijanovic's vast transportable frescoes depict contemporary landscapes and exude pop kitsch, while Ghenie's images are dark and macabre in appearance. Join these two Biennial artists in a conversation with Simon Grant of Tate Etc. on their individual interpretations of the 'Made Up' theme.